Another Drink

Those of you who are Christians, do you remember when you first were saved? Do you remember how exciting it was. Do you remember when you were first filled with the Holy Spirit, how exciting it was? Do you remember how much in love with Jesus you were? It seemed like there was a fountain of living water just bubbling out of you. Remember?

What happened?

What happened to all your joy and exuberance?

I’ll tell you what happened, you stopped drinking from the fountain of life!

You need to take another drink!

You stopped eating the Bread of Life, you need to eat!

Isa 55:1-2

"Come, all you who are thirsty,

come to the waters;

and you who have no money,

come, buy and eat!

Come, buy wine and milk

without money and without cost.

2 Why spend money on what is not bread,

and your labor on what does not satisfy?

Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good,

and your soul will delight in the richest of fare.

Isa 12:2-6

2 Surely God is my salvation;

I will trust and not be afraid.

The LORD, the LORD, is my strength and my song;

he has become my salvation."

3 With joy you will draw water

from the wells of salvation.

4 In that day you will say:

"Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name;

make known among the nations what he has done,

and proclaim that his name is exalted.

5 Sing to the LORD, for he has done glorious things;

let this be known to all the world.

6 Shout aloud and sing for joy, people of Zion,

for great is the Holy One of Israel among you."

Matt 5:6

6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,

for they will be filled.

Ruth 1:1-7 (Friday’s reading)

As I read this passage I will insert the literal English meaning of the names as they occure.

1:1 In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land, and a man from Bethlehem (which means “house of bread”) in Judah, together with his wife and two sons, went to live for a while in the country of Moab. 2 The man’s name was Elimelech (literally “god of the king”), his wife’s name Naomi (which means “pleasant”), and the names of his two sons were Mahlon (sick) and Kilion (failing). They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem (“house of bread)”, in Judah. And they went to Moab and lived there.

3 Now Elimelech, Naomi’s husband, died, and she was left with her two sons. 4 They married Moabite women, one named Orpah (literally “the back side”) and the other Ruth (which means “friend and associate”). After they had lived there about ten years, 5 both Mahlon and Kilion also died, and Naomi was left without her two sons and her husband.

6 When she heard in Moab that the LORD had come to the aid of his people by providing food for them, Naomi and her daughters-in-law prepared to return home from there. 7 With her two daughters-in-law she left the place where she had been living and set out on the road that would take them back to the land of Judah.

(It was on the road that Orpah (literally “the back side”) lived up to her name and chose to turn back and Ruth (literally “friend and associate”) lived up to her name and chose to stick with Naomi.)

Ruth 1:19-21

19 So the two women went on until they came to Bethlehem (the “house of bread”). When they arrived in Bethlehem, the whole town was stirred because of them, and the women exclaimed, "Can this be Naomi?"

20 "Don’t call me Naomi (which means “pleasant”)," she told them. "Call me Mara (which means “bitter”), because the Almighty has made my life very bitter. I went away full, but the LORD has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi? The LORD has afflicted me; the Almighty has brought misfortune upon me."

The book of Ruth starts out, “In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land.” Why was there a famine in the land?

Over and over we read in the Book of Judges, “Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord.” We know from our reading of the Book of Judges, that the Jews repeatedly fell into a cycle of SIN – A CRY FOR HELP – OUTWARD REPENTANCE – DELIVERANCE THROUGH A JUDGE – A TIME OF PEACE – BACK TO SIN AGAIN.

The reason there was famine in the land was because there was sin in the land!

Let me bring this home to us today church!

Bethlehem means what? (House of Bread)

The reason Elimelich took his wife and kids and moved out of town was because there was no bread in the house!